


Interloper

by chokingonwhys



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bad middle earth cryptids, Crack, Gen, Middle Earth Cryptids, Swamp Thing!Caranthir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21794254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chokingonwhys/pseuds/chokingonwhys
Summary: A shape rose from the murk. The clump of vegetation and slime resolved itself into a nearly-forgotten form as it trudged inexorably toward the edge of the water.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Interloper

**Author's Note:**

> [Pollys_hymnia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollys_hymnia/pseuds/Pollys_hymnia) prompted, "Gollum met Caranthir when he was poking around in his swamp," and... you know.
> 
> Companion to [Through The Fog](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19262362).

After the Dagor Bragollach, after Caranthir fled Thargelion and joined Ambarussa in the south, he was never quite the same. No one could point to just what was different, but all who knew him well agreed. It was though part of him was simply… missing.

His fury and shame at Ulfang’s betrayal wasn’t precisely half-hearted, but it seemed remote, perfunctory. He went through the motions. He needed little convincing to assault Doriath; indeed his brothers perceived that he viewed it as a forgone conclusion. Surely that was why he’d abandoned his customary prudence for reckless violence.

No one realized how very literally he’d left a piece of himself behind on the shores of Lake Helevorn. Living for so long in a realm all his own, he’d become inseparably connected with the land, and the water, and the lush swamp that bridged the two. When this connection was so abruptly and violently severed, his fëa stretched unbearably. Then it tore away from the lake, leaving a little ragged shred behind.

This shred fed itself on vengeance and murk until it manifested physically, among the weeds and silt and tree roots. From there it regrew a sort of intelligence. It remembered the man it once was.

As Beleriand heaved and cracked and crumbled, the lake receded into a brackish tidal marsh. There the thing slept. It woke periodically, grumbled and tossed as the plain flooded, then settled back down into the squelching mud. For interminable centuries it hibernated.

Then. As the swamp was just drifting back out of lucidity, an ungainly creature crashed into the shallows, setting off the most irritating wiggling ripples. The little biped made comical wheezing, grunting noises, but the swamp wasn’t in the mood to be amused. It was in the mood to expel the intruder.

A shape rose from the water. The clump of vegetation and slime resolved itself into a nearly-forgotten form as it trudged inexorably toward the unwelcome beast. As the thing took on the shape of a man, it recalled the notion of speech: vibrations in the air, communicating nearly as much as minute eddies in the water. The loathsome beast was muttering to itself. It was very still now, crouching with its hands just above the surface of the water.

A fish darted past, but Gollum seized it and hissed his triumph. The swamp thing roared its rage and leapt through the water toward the wretched little monster. Gollum screeched in terror and dashed out of the thing’s grasp, and out of the water, and scrabbled into the long grass beyond out of sight.

The thing sank back into the water, bubbling its indignation as sleep overcame it once more.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm mywoesaregranular on Tumblr ♥


End file.
